The Community Food Pantry is designed to supplement an individual’s grocery needs, especially during times of hardship. While the CFP is not designed to meet 100% of individuals’ grocery needs, there are many food pantries in the Charlottesville area that are free and available to students.
Food Finder Tool – Blue Ridge Area Food Bank: The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank launched their user-friendly, mobile-accessible Food Finder tool to help individuals connect with local food pantries and programs. Available in 12 different languages, the search results can be filtered by service type, days of operation, distance and even the availability of evening hours.
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank: The BRAF-B network serves guests living with hunger across 25 counties and 8 cities on either side of the Blue Ridge. The Food Bank operates out of distribution centers located in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Winchester and Verona (our headquarters).
At the Charlottesville location, visitors can access a variety of groceries, typically including produce, meat, dairy, and shelf-stable items.
Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry: This local pantry exists to provide food assistance to families and individuals in need in Charlottesville and surrounding communities. One in six people in Charlottesville struggle with hunger. This struggle can have many effects – family members may skip meals or they may have to choose between food and other important expenses such as housing, utilities or medical bills.
Visitors can receive food items like fresh produce and frozen meat, up to twice a month at several distributions every week, with a focus on nutrition and accessibility in terms of both diet and language. To learn more about how to get free groceries, please visit their website.
Emergency Food Network: If you live in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, you can call the Emergency Food Network (EFN) once a month to order a three-day supply of food for your family. Call (434) 979-9180 between 9 and noon on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning. Come to the distribution site at 900 Harris St. between 1:30 and 3:30 that same day to pick up your food.
